Somatic Psychology Certificate

Complete in 6–12 Months

Explore the Body as a Foundation for Healing and Transformation

About the Somatic Psychology Certificate

The Somatic Psychology Certificate is a program offered through Meridian University's Center for Transformative Learning. Designed for professionals seeking to deepen their understanding of the body-mind connection and develop embodied approaches to therapeutic practice, the certificate draws on Meridian's graduate curriculum in somatic psychology to provide a comprehensive foundation in body-centered practice.

As a certificate participant, you will take courses from the anchor and other parts of Meridian's graduate curriculum offered during the period of your enrollment. This means you will engage with the same rigorous, faculty-led coursework that graduate students experience, tailored to the certificate's focus on somatic psychology principles and practices.

What is Somatic Psychology?

Somatic Psychology is a field that recognizes the body as a fundamental source of knowledge, experience, and healing. Drawing on research in neuroscience, embodiment, and movement, somatic psychology explores how physical experience shapes psychological well-being and how embodied awareness can be cultivated as a resource for personal and relational transformation. Somatic practitioners work with clients to develop deeper access to bodily experience, facilitating healing from trauma, stress, and the effects of cultural conditioning on the body.

Meridian's somatic psychology curriculum provides the scholarly research and embodied pedagogy that distinguish this certificate. The concentration understands the lived experience of the body as a legitimate but often marginalized source of knowledge. Coursework engages practices, methods, and topics including body metaphors, nonverbal felt experience, embodiment, and historical trauma. This approach ensures that certificate participants not only study somatic theory but develop their own embodied awareness as a foundation for professional practice.

The Expanding Field of Somatic Psychology

The growing body of research on the neuroscience of embodiment and the role of the body in psychological processes has elevated the significance of somatic approaches in therapeutic practice. Somatic psychology practitioners work in diverse settings including psychotherapy, somatic education, health and wellbeing coaching, employee wellness programs, and organizational development. As the field continues to expand, there is increasing demand for professionals who can skillfully integrate body-centered approaches into their work, bringing depth and nuance to the understanding of how the body shapes and supports psychological life.